


The Bright Center to the Universe

by onyourleft084



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate extended ending, Bonding in the rain, Character Bonding, Character Growth, Episode VII, Feels, Force Sensitivity, I threw in some Rey/Jess fuel but not enough to make a relationship tag, M/M, Stormpilot, The Force, character exploration, flying X-Wings, friendship fic, lotsa fluff, mentions of torture, poe is everyone's dad, post-TFA, potty-mouthed Leia, random a Capella harmonizing, semi-canon-compliant, slight mention of non-con/underage, the author takes leaps of faith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-14 20:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5757694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onyourleft084/pseuds/onyourleft084
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A scavenger, a pilot and an ex-Stormtrooper walk into each others' lives and refuse to leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The long, rambling TFA fic I promised at the end of [some planets have two suns](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5733766) (although these fics are not connected.)
> 
> Title taken from a line in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

D'Qar is entirely different from Jakku. Rey knew it before she even got there, of course, but three days at the Resistance base and she's still being reminded of the disparities between them.

For one thing, the surroundings are different. There are trees and rivers everywhere. Sometimes it gets damp and cloudy and sometimes it gets sunny and windy. The Resistance has built hangars, mess halls, barracks, garages, even gardens (Rey had never even seen one of those till she got here) and it's home to all sorts of species all bustling about doing their bit for the good fight. She decides she likes it. There's a sense of permanence, of purpose, rather than the mere skittering about scavenging for one's next meal and trying not to fry crisp under the desert Suns. Since their victory against the First Order and the destruction of Starkiller Base, Rey's been made more than welcome, but she can't help but feel as if this isn't the end.

She's (somewhat irrationally) scared that someone is going to take it away. Or worse, make her leave.

So when General Organa summons Rey to her office, pulling her away from Finn's bedside in the med bay for once, the first thing she asks is "Are you sending me away?"

Leia looks at her with a mix of pity and incredulity from across her desk. _The poor girl's been expecting this, she thinks._ "Is that what you're afraid of?"

Rey fidgets. "I just got here. Finn's not woken up yet. I don't want to leave."

"That's a shame," Leia says. "Of all the people on this base, myself excluded of course, you're the most appropriate choice to go find my brother, now that we've already located him."

The proposition hangs in the air between them. Rey's eyes widen, realizing this meeting isn't about the end of her stay; it's about a whole new beginning.

She almost asks why, then realizes the reason is obvious. The Force is strong with her. She needs a teacher. Luke Skywalker is the last Jedi. Go figure.

"But if you don't want to leave," Leia breezes forward, "then I suppose I'll have to go and do it, like I originally planned." She looks at Rey. "Although since you arrived, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that you're meant to go to him."

"Let me guess," Rey says quietly. "The Force?"

Leia smiles. "He can teach you all about that, my dear."

"I know that," she says. "I know. But I don't want to go...yet."

"You're waiting for your friend."

Rey nods. "I want to be here when Finn wakes up. And I want to help him get better." She holds the General's gaze. "Is that okay?"

Rey has so seldom asked for anything in her life. A rough childhood has taught her, the hard way, that it's always tough to get what you want. So she's surprised and relieved when Leia nods her head.

"I'll give you another month," she says. "You can decide to go sooner, if you wish."

"Depends if Finn can manage without me," Rey says.

Leia smiles. "I suppose so."

The conversation is over, but Rey lingers. "Is it really okay to wait a month?"

"Well, we've waited this long," Leia says, an undertone of aggravation and impatience in her voice. "Besides, the Falcon needs repairs, the Resistance needs to regroup after our last bold move, and you deserve a rest. Going toe to toe with the leader of the First Order is no joke, Rey."

Rey nods, still unsure of how to respond to praise. "Thank you."

The General rises from behind her desk. Rey stands too, and makes to leave. "Let yourself have this, and when you're ready, you can go chase down your destiny like the Jedi before you." Leia sees her out.

"But either way," Rey says, "I will need to start my training with him sooner or later, won't I?"

The General opens the door for Rey. "Of course. You're our only hope."

 

* * *

 

 

Finn hasn't so much as stirred since they brought him back from Starkiller base, bleeding half to death after facing Kylo Ren one-on-one. But he's in stable condition, breathing and on the road to recovery, and dammit, Rey's going to wait for him to wake up. After all, waiting is her speciality, right?

Rey goes straight to Finn's bedside after lunch, on the first day of the month she's been given by General Organa. That's where she's taken to spending the whole day, sitting on a chair to his right. She assembles and disassembles small machines, the kinds she's never seen before, or she teaches herself to read using the learning programs in the datapad she's been given. But eventually her module for the day ends, and Rey puts the datapad away, leaning her head on the side of Finn's bed and blinking the glare of the screen away. She cannot help but think about the fight in the snow, when Kylo Ren ripped Finn nearly in half with his saber and left him for dead. The thought of him running around scott-free boils in her chest. She thinks of the scar she gave him and that seems to make up for it...but barely.

She drops off to sleep, but is woken by the presence of someone else, who takes a place on the other side of Finn's bed. Rey looks up at the stranger who's joined them. He's got brown skin and wavy hair, and Rey recognizes him as the X-Wing pilot who made a beeline to Finn straight after they'd gotten him off the Falcon, unconscious. Almost immediately she straightens.

"Hey," the pilot says softly, spreading his hands. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to disturb you." He regards her curiously. "Rey, right?" She nods. "Thought I'd find you here. We weren't properly introduced." He offers his hand and a warm smile. "Poe Dameron."

She shakes his hand, recognizing the name. "I've heard about you in the mess hall. You're the one who collected the missing piece of the map to Luke Skywalker."

He nods, "that was me."

"So you're BB-8's owner," Rey says, putting the pieces together, "which means...you also own this?" She leans back and tugs on the sleeve of Finn's-- Poe's?-- brown jacket, which is hanging on a peg on the wall, the long gash in the back clearly visible.

Poe winces. _Definitely_ his jacket.

"Where's BB-8?" Rey says, suddenly becoming excited. 

"Well we just flew a mission cleaning up some more of the First Order's mess, so it's getting serviced," Poe says, shifting into a more comfortable position on the chair. "I've heard about you from it. It likes you a lot." He tosses her a casual smile. Rather than blush, as any other girl would have done when faced with the Resistance's ace pilot, Rey fixes her eyes on him as if trying to get a good read on him.

"How do you know Finn?" She asks. "I'm curious. I heard people say he saved your life, but I want to hear it from you."

"What, didn't he tell you?" Poe glances at the sleeping Finn with a humored look on his face. "Some buddy you are, buddy." His smile wider now, he turns back to Rey. "I wouldn't be here and we wouldn't have blown up Starkiller base if not _for_ Finn. Here's what happened..." 

Five minutes later Rey is listening rapt, vaguely wondering how Poe has managed to reel her in completely with his descriptions of dogfights, white-armored First Order troopers and desert explosions. It's fascinating how his story began exactly the same place hers did; on Jakku. And it's even more fascinating that Poe seems to be the one who gave Finn the identity she's come to love.

"And now we're here," Poe finishes, looking over Finn, "and now we're waiting for him to wake up." He tilts his head at Rey. "The General said something about sending you to find Luke Skywalker, since you're actually Force-sensitive."

Rey nods. "But I decided to wait."

"For this guy?" Poe gestures to Finn. "Lucky bastard. You two are so loyal to one another, you know?"

She smiles. "He's the first friend I've ever had."

"So you just wanna sit here the whole time until he wakes up?"

Rey frowns. "When you put it that way..."

Poe tsks. "I'm not going to force you or anything, but staying in here the whole time is gonna get really boring really soon."

"It's fine," Rey says, "I don't have anything else to do anyway." She folds her hands and watches Finn, but Poe can tell that she's itching to go anywhere else. She's just so steadfast that she won't leave his side.

But there's something in her eyes that suggests weariness and boredom, and her feet won't stop scuffing the floor.

Poe sighs. "Come on, let's get outta here."

"What?"

He stands up. "I'll tour you around the base, let you stretch your legs. Come on." He absentmindedly takes Rey's hand as she stands up uncertainly.

Rey scowls. "Don't hold my hand."

He drops it. "Fine."

 

Poe works with what he knows-- this girl flew the Millenium Falcon (which in itself is not so great a feat; the impressive thing is that _she flew the Falcon without a copilot_ ) and is Force-sensitive, so he starts their tour in the landing strips, right next to the X-Wing maintenance bays.

Their instincts clash almost at once, when Poe puts a hand on the broad of her back in a protective, guiding gesture, and Rey immediately stiffens at his touch. But her eyes light up almost at once, taking it all in, and she quickly forgets her awkwardness.

"Do you throw all these away or do you keep 'em around for spares?" she says, running to a pile of scrap parts.

"We keep them around," Poe says, following her, "but sometimes it's hard to--"

Rey squats and pulls something from deep within the pile, causing the mound to topple and scatter with a crash. She winces, but waves the piece-- a worn-out power converter-- around with a grin.

"This seems good still."

"Iiiiiii'm...not so sure," Poe says uncertainly.

Rey picks up another piece. "This would've been good for a week's worth of food."

"A week's-- what now?" It clicks in Poe's head. "Were you a scavenger on Jakku?"

Rey nods eagerly. "I traded parts from old craft in the desert from the war for food portions. Been doing it for years."

"And I can tell you're really good at it." Poe eyes the piece she's holding awkwardly. He can't really wrap his head around it yet-- the scavengers he met while on Jakku, the ones he had to inveigle to get him off the godforsaken planet in the first place-- were all coarse and hardened, not vibrant and passionate about their work like Rey clearly was. Besides, Rey was tiny, it was hard to envision her surviving in the harsh desert at a young age. "How old were you when you started?"

"Ten?" Rey doesn't meet his eyes, fiddling with the power converter. "Machines and I seem to go way back."

"Uh-huh." He can already tell that pressing for details would make Rey uncomfortable, so he just waits until she tires of the machinery.

"And you?" Rey says, still not taking her eyes off the hardware. "Did you start piloting young too?"

Poe smiles. "My mom taught me when I was around eight. Both she and Dad fought for the Rebellion back in the day...I grew up flying."

"Your mother taught you?"

"Yeah."

"Lucky you." There's a slight rawness to her voice that suggests frustration, longing and the slightest hint of envy. Poe's about to ask her about it when she finally looks up, changing the subject.

"You know, a lot of this old stuff can still be used. You just need to-- BB-8!" They're suddenly joined by the orange and white droid, who's rolled over to them eagerly. It beeps with enthusiasm, and Rey stoops, laughing, to pat it's domed head. Poe grins at them, pleased that they've gotten along.

"Hey, buddy," he says, when BB-8 greets him in turn. "Finn? Nah, Finn's not up yet. He'll be okay, though." Poe frowns when the droid continues to beep. He turns to Rey apologetically. "Uh, sorry, I know I said I'd take you around, but something's come up at headquarters--"

"It's fine," Rey waves him off cheerfully. "I'll just go back to my bunk and figure this out." She crams some machine parts into her belt. "Thank you, Poe." She eyes him, thinking she might let herself trust him, thinking she might let herself like him, the way she did with Finn.

He only has time to acknowledge her with a nod before BB-8 pushes against his legs impatiently. "All right, dammit, all right!"

 

* * *

 

 

When Rey sees Poe again, it's the next day at lunch. He waves to her from across the mess hall, from a table crowded with pilots. Rey can tell, because they've all somehow managed to wear the Resistance insignia on them-- sewn onto jackets, pinned on on lapels, patched to scarves. Some of them haven't even gotten out of their orange jumpsuits.

"Poe!" Rey says with a smile.

He gestures to an empty seat. "Join us?"

She hesitates. "Uh."

Poe insists. "Come on!"

That's how Rey finds herself sitting, for the first time, in a group at the mess hall. She's surrounded by the members of Blue Squadron, who are all loud, all slightly aggressive, and all very hungry.

"So tell us!" A dark-haired woman instantly gets all up in Rey's face. "You flew the Millenium Falcon. What was that like?"

Rey can't help but chuckle. "Terrifying?"

"That is a one-in-a-million chance, that," says another man, pointing his spoon at her appraisingly. "So I heard it was on Jakku? What was it doing there?"

"Well, um--" before Rey can begin to explain the ship's recent ownership history, the dark-haired girl butts in again.

"No wonder the General likes you! You totally impressed Han Solo." Murmurs and nods of agreement sweep the table. Somebody raises a glass. "Han Solo."

The others do the same, and Rey watches, unsure of what went down. But the way everybody's treating the mention of the name makes it seems respectful, reverent even. Poe catches her eye and smiles slightly.

"And get this," he says. "General says she plans to send her to get Luke Skywalker."

"Get out," says the dark-haired girl in disbelief, and the entire table goes "Whoaaaa!"

"For real?" The pilot closest to Rey's left elbow asks.

Rey nods with a small smile. "Yeah, for real. I can hardly believe it!"

"So it's true, you're Force-sensitive," the one who had raised his glass says. "You fought Kylo Ren."

"Well, yeah, but--"

"You are totally a Jedi."

"Not yet, but..."

"Can you tell what I'm thinking?" The dark-haired girl says.

"Can you make this move with your mind?" another female pilot says, holding up a grape.

Rey stares. Everyone stares at her.

"Go for it!"

Rey pulls a face sheepishly, but a part of her wants to try. So she does.

She focuses on the grape...and it falls out of the woman's hand.

The pilots groan in mock disappointment.

"What, that totally, counted, didn't it?" Someone says.

"Close enough..."

"No, I wanna try again," Rey says with a chuckle.

Poe puts another grape on the table in front of her. "Lift that."

Rey glares at the grape-- no, that doesn't feel right. She closes her eyes instead, and reaches out with her mind.

Back then, between the snow-stained trees on Starkiller Base, it had seemed easier-- Rey's desperation to live, to save Finn, fueling the lightsaber out of the snow where it lay embedded and sending it flying into her hand. But when she opens her eyes and the grape remains the same as it was, she feels disappointed.

"It worked when Ren attacked us in the forest," she says as if in apology.

"Must have been the adrenaline," Poe supplies helpfully. "Don't worry about it, Rey."

"Yeah, anyway, if you're going to find Luke Skywalker, maybe he'll teach you to develop," the man on Rey's left says. The pilots agree and go back to their meal, but it doesn't seem like Rey has disappointed or failed them.

The dark-haired woman pats her shoulder. "Nice try, though. I'm Jessika Pava, by the way."

Rey faces her. "Nice to meet you, Jessika."

From the corner of her eye, Rey can see Poe smile smugly.

 

* * *

 

 

"How did you learn how to fly spacecraft?" Poe asks her later, as they continue their tour around base, this time accompanied by BB-8.

A shy, but proud smile lifts her lips. "Flight simulators. Jakku isn't all wasteland; there's also a big town where all kind of ships come through port. They trained pilots there." Rey pauses. Should she say more? Would Poe care about that or judge her by the way she'd have to live life, begging and scavenging as she did? She watches him put his hands in his pockets, looking at her expectantly. It encourages her.

"My, uh, my family, or whoever I had before I was on my own, left me at an outpost just outside the town. I was the junkyard master's responsibility, but when I was a little girl he let me stay with two old ladies who ran the cantina. I'd run around doing odd jobs, picking up scraps as I went and going on the flight sims when I could spare the time. Turned out to be good at finding old machine parts and making them work."

Poe blinks. "You were left on Jakku by your family?"

"That's what I remember." Rey meets his eyes and smiles at the confusion and disbelief she reads in them. "It is what it is, Poe. You don't have to feel sorry."

"Don't tell me what to do," he says brashly, but not unkindly. "Who would do that? No offense Rey," Poe continues, "but that...that sounds like a pretty shitty life."

"Well, 'pretty shitty' is what's real for most of us down there," Rey says.

Little by little Poe's curiosity about her is satisfied; as they walk, Rey talks. He soon gathers that life as an orphan in Jakku, learning to survive in the harsh environment, isn't as shitty as he first thought.

It's even shittier.

"I left when I was fourteen, when I was felt like I was old enough to be on my own," Rey says as they sit atop a wall separating the barracks from the landing strip. They're watching the sun set, and two A-Wings patrol the horizon, buzzing lazily.

"And you pursued your career in scavenging," Poe quips, making her laugh. "Didn't you have any friends growing up?"

"I ran around with some kids, yeah. But I guess I was mostly caught up with trying to stay alive and out of trouble...and waiting for my family." She dangles her legs down carelessly, heels knocking against the wall.

"Why'd you leave the town if the outskirts were tougher to survive in?"

"They left me at the outpost, so I always thought that if they were gonna come back, they'd go there first. I wanted to be right there when they did." Rey presses her lips together. "Anyways, I felt better off alone. Times changed, the town changed...it wasn't so safe anymore. As I got older, I...noticed people looking at me. Older men."

Poe's insides squish unpleasantly. He doesn't like what that sounds like.

"There was this one guy, a parts trader who made a deal that seemed too good to be true. I didn't know any better, so I followed him to where he said he had a good haul. But he touched me and then he tried to kiss me--"

Poe nearly falls off the wall. He grabs it to steady himself. "He what?!" BB-8 nudges him back into a stabler position. "So-- so what'd you do?"

Rey shrugs. "I totally flipped. I screamed. The law enforcers came over and broke us up, but I think they only did it because I was disturbing the peace."

"What did they do to the guy?" The pain in his palm is the only thing that makes him realize he's clenching his fist too hard.

"They beat him. They probably would have beaten me too, but I was long gone. That's what made me figure I should really get out of there," Rey finishes, and exhales as if she's never told this to anyone before.

Poe exhales too. He claps her on the shoulder, and this time she doesn't flinch. "Good on you. I still can't believe that happened." He growls in annoyance. "Seriously, Rey, if I'd known which one of those bastards on Jakku it was, I would have--"

To his surprise, she laughs softly. "Poe. It's okay! It was years ago. I left after that because I didn't want it to happen again." She pauses. "I also took the guy's speeder."

Now he has to laugh. "You did not."

"Yeah, I did."

"Serve him right!" Poe extends an arm. "Come over here. I feel like you need a hug, kid. You deserve it."

Rey hesitates. But not for long.

When she scooches in, Poe's free arm wraps around her in a warm side hug, tight and comforting and protective.

"Believe me when I say-- and Finn is totally gonna agree with me when he wakes up--" Poe says, "that we won't let anything like that ever to happen to you again."

"I can take care of myself," Rey mumbles.

He scoffs. "Yeah, but you've been doing that long enough."

 

* * *

 

 

When Poe joins Blue Squadron for lunch the next day, he's pleased-- no, elated-- to find Rey already sitting with the group, laughing and soaking up the others' war stories with enraptured eyes. He offers her a small smile as he joins them and she greets him eagerly.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Poe responds. "So I see these guys have been regaling you with typical fighter pilot drama, huh?" He glances at Jessika. "You in particular have a predisposition for exaggeration."

"Ooh, big words, Dameron," Jess says, rolling her eyes. "But you know me, I tell it like it is."

"We've made a breakthrough, Poe," says another pilot, who's been introduced to Rey as 'Snap.' "Rey's been successfully impressed by our daring feats of bravery."

"Great, what'd you tell her?" Poe drawls.

Snap grins. "Enough to make her want to try to fly one."

"What, an X-Wing?"

"Come on!" Rey almost bounces in her seat. "I wanna try it. You know I can, Poe! I can fly anything!"

He mock-scowls at her. "That's my line."

Fifteen minutes of coercion later, Poe has no idea how they've inveigled him into letting Rey have a go at a flight simulator.

"This is boring," Rey says just before they initiate the training sequence, the practice helmet she's wearing a little too big. "I've only ever been on simulators all my life, not counting the Falcon!"

"This is standard," Poe insists from behind the control panel. The rest of Blue Squadron-- and a few other curious engineers-- have gathered around him. "Can't let you into the real thing until you've gotten the hang of the sim."

Boring as it may be, the sim proves to be incredibly lifelike in imitation, and Rey quickly realizes that handling an X-Wing is entirely different from the Falcon. It's smaller and lighter, more versatile, and somehow more sensitive to her control. Each type of craft seems, to her, to have its own 'personality,' and flying different ones require a different mindset. It takes Rey time to find the right kind of mindset for flying an X-Wing, but just when she thinks she's got it handled, the simulation creates turbulence, or points her attention to a different kind of cannon, or alerts her to an imbalance on her port side, and she's got to relearn everything again. The simulation even has an option for entering hyperspace, and that's where the training sequence ends.

Rey climbs out of the practice cockpit to applause and appreciation. Poe crosses his arms. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"Must be the Force," Rey jokes. She pulls the helmet off and faces him. "The real one now. You promised."

"I did no such thing," Poe retorts. "I said, until you get the hang of it."

The other pilots snicker or roll their eyes knowingly, and more than one of them says "Uh oh, it's the Dad voice!" Poe shoots them a glare.

Rey continues to protest. "But I thought--"

"Rey, that was training sequence one of _twenty_. You have a long way to go before--"

"Uh, Commander?" A young warden with her hair in two tiny buns approaches, looking up from her datapad. "I just received a notif from the med bay. Your friend's woken up."

Poe blinks, but by the time it sinks in, Rey is already running out the door.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Finn thinks when he wakes up is _I can't believe they actually kept me alive._

The medic droid, and subsequently the nurse, who arrive at his bedside almost at once inform him he's been out for nearly a week, which surprises him. One, because it felt like a lot longer than that. Two, because every First Order Stormtrooper knew that if you didn't recover from injury in seventy-two hours, they'd euthanize you at once. They just couldn't spare the effort of keeping an already damaged soldier alive, who might hinder progress in the field or perform less effectively. He's only just beginning to contemplate this-- _I'm alive, they healed me, I'm better, I matter_ \-- before the clatter and patter of footsteps announce the arrival of his first visitors.

"Finn!" Rey looks just about ready to jump on him with a bear hug, but she halts when she sees him blinking queasily in bed. He can't help but smile though, and that prompts a smile from her too. On her heels is Poe, and Finn isn't prepared for the feeling of how gosh-darn good it is to see both of them.

"Guys?" He croaks.

Rey comes over to him and holds his hand gently. "I promised I'd be here when you woke up, but I wasn't-- I'm sorry Finn, but I'm just so glad you're better--"

"We're both glad you're better, buddy," Poe says gently. He sits on Finn's other side. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Good. Actually good." Finn tries to get used to his mouth and his voice again. "I'm-- what happened?" He glances at Poe, "did you-- did you do the thing?"

Poe puts a steadying hand on his shoulder. "If you mean blow up Starkiller base, then yes, we did the thing," he reassures him. "And thanks to you!"

"Ren got away," Rey says, "but things are looking up--"

"-- war's far from over though--"

"-- we found the rest of the map--"

"Yeah, Skywalker's old droid had it--"

"We know where he is now!" Rey finishes Poe's last sentence. Finn looks back and forth between them, already sensing a bond.

He tries to follow. "Okay, so, uh, what now?"

Poe glances at Rey, who puts her other hand over Finn's. "General Organa is sending me to find him," she says.

Almost immediately Finn feels deflated. "So you're leaving?"

"Not yet," Rey assures him. "She let me stay for a while to help you get better."

"Oh," Finn says, startled and touched by the fact that she cares. That they both do.

"I don't know how long that's going to take," he continues. "I still feel a little...messed-up."

"These things take time, buddy," Poe says comfortingly. "We'll have you up and about soon."

As Rey and Poe soon find out, talking over Finn's prognosis with the med droids, Stromtroopers are incredibly tough nuts to crack. They'd found all sorts of boosters in his system, from antibiotics to boosters for accelerated healing and superior endurance, but those weren't always enough to prevent severe injury or death. Finn has to be confined to a bed until he's fit to walk.

The droids usher Rey and Poe out so they can change his bandages.

"I'm just glad he's okay," Rey says, first thing as they go out into the hall.

Poe nods. "It'll be a while till he gets out of bed. I hope the boredom doesn't kill him." He glances at Rey. "Look, I'll have to be flying in and out of the planet and reporting to the General, but you'll be with him, right?"

"Of course." Rey looks like she's wondering why he even has to ask that.

"Let me know how he does. Send me transmissions if I'm not around."

"Of course," Rey says again, more reassuringly this time.

 

* * *

 

 

She keeps her promise. When Poe leaves a couple of days later on a long mission with both squadrons, he receives transmission after transmission detailing Finn's progress-- images of him in varying states of recovery with thoughtful, teasing narrations by Rey:

"Subject is less queasy now, or at least he says. Oh, and I have successfully located his ticklish spot--"

"Rey!" wheedles Finn, making her giggle, making Poe smile.

The transmissions are what he looks forward to in the nights his squadron has to camp out in strange new stars or planets. They anchor him to home, reminding him not to get killed so he can come back and-- well, Poe's not sure what he means to do, but he somehow feels voluntarily responsible for both Finn and Rey. Like they're the younger brother and sister he's always wanted, but never had.

Meanwhile Finn is fascinated, and kind of intimidated, that now that he's no longer the First Order's lackey he can make his own decisions. The scalability of such agency is new and foreign to him. Even the breakfast things that Rey brings in for him prove a challenge as he tries all of them and decides which he likes and which he doesn't. Rey watches with interest and eagerness. In a way, they're both getting to know him.

"This is good," Finn says, gesturing to a cup of blue yoghurt, "this stuff-- I don't really like--" half of a pink fruit, "and this is...can I have another one?"

Rey smiles, passing him another small breakfast muffin. "It's good to see you getting your strength back."

"Yeah, 'cause you keep feeding me." Finn takes a huge bite of the muffin.

"'Cause you keep asking for stuff you haven't tried before. And there's so much you haven't yet, Finn." Rey leans her elbows on the edge of his bed happily. "When you're better I'll show you the gardens-- they're the coolest thing, the Resistance grows everything themselves. And the earth on D'Qar is so fertile." She loves the smell of damp soil and crushed grass. But she also likes watching Finn get better and better every day.

Finn examines a bunch of grapes. "Back in the First Order, we always had a specific routine diet. Protein, usually. Fake processed stuff to keep up our strength." He pops the grapes into his mouth one by one. "And always in regulated portions.”

"The Resistance has to regulate too," Rey points out. "We're still in a war and there won't always be chances to get things we can't grow."

"Yeah, but the portions have way more variety over here," Finn says enthusiastically. "I get to try different stuff for the first time in my life! So, Captain Phasma--" Finn polishes off the grapes, reaches for a cup of juice and pours the lot down his throat, "I almost wish you could see me now."

Rey giggles, "The way you talk about her, she must've been terrible."

"She had her moments," says Finn wistfully, putting down his breakfast tray at last, "but did she still deserve getting tossed into a trash compactor? Um, yeah."

"Aren't you afraid she might come looking for you for?" asks Rey anxiously.

Finn shrugs. "Depends. We've heard of Stormtroopers trying to run; most never made it off-base. Phasma usually catches them, but sometimes they just can't spare the effort and let 'em drop off the grid." He frowns. "Okay, so she might come gunning for me in particularly. I'm the first Trooper who's ever switched sides. So I'm kind of a big deal."

"You bet you are," says Rey with a wry grin.

When Poe finally does make it home, the first place he goes is the med bay, and the warden droids-- not to mention the General-- are impressed that he's all caught up with Finn's status. But what impresses and delights Poe is that the kids are getting on fine without him: Rey's making headway on the flight simulators and getting to know the other people on base, and Finn is, well, working out where he stands in the Resistance.

There's a rare moment he gets with alone Poe one day, as the pilot's on break between flights and Rey is off making herself useful at one of the repair hangars.

"You could be a lot of help, intelligence-wise," Poe's saying. "Never had any ex-Stormtroopers on our side before. We could use the First Order's own tactics against them."

"That's what Rey said," Finn replies. He's able to sit up in bed now, although his movement is limited.

Poe looks at him, something incredibly proud, even admiring in his eyes. “I’ll keep saying it again and again, buddy-- that was brave. That was so brave of you to leave.”

“Wouldn't have been able to do it without the best pilot in the galaxy,” Finn returns, loving that his compliment makes Poe smile.

“But you made the choice.” Poe leans back in his chair, stares at the ceiling. Rey’s been given print-outs of distant planets and different types of spacecraft from the other pilots, and she’s taped these photos to the ceiling above Finn’s bed so he's got something cool to look at while taking treatment. Poe studies them now, but he talks about something else. “You and Rey are both tough beyond belief. She’s been through some stuff too.”

“What kind of stuff?”

The pilot shakes his head, “That’s up to her to tell you. I'm sure she will in time.”

Finn feels the tiniest bit jealous that Poe knows something about her that he doesn't, but he lets it go. “I know her family abandoned her on Jakku and she was convinced they were gonna come back, that's why she didn't want to leave.”

Poe nods this time. “Yup.”

Finn hesitates. In his time alone in bed, staring at the photos on the ceiling and drifting off to sleep, he often relives the battle-- no, the massacre on Jakku, where one of his squad mates, known as Slip, was shot down. He remembers Slip going limp under his arm, leaving bloody tracks down the front of his helmet with one weak hand. It’s the turning point for Finn, the moment that decides the next direction he goes in. But something has become clear to him lately, something he didn't get to think about when he sprang Poe out of his cell.

“Finn? You okay, buddy?” Poe says gently.

“You shot Slip,” Finn mumbles. He meets Poe’s confused gaze. “At Jakku, when we attacked the village, you shot a Trooper, didn't you?”

“Um,” Poe says, and his mouth goes dry. “I might've shot a bunch of troopers, yeah.” Somehow he feels like the ‘it was them or me’ excuse is going to fall flat here.

“One of them was called Slip. We grew up together at the First Order Academy.” Finn looks away, turning his attention to the pictures above his bed yet again. “We trained in a team and we called him Slip cause he kept slipping up. I always looked out for him but I failed this one time. I saw the blast come out from behind an X-Wing and-- now I know that was you, wasn't it?”

Poe has no idea what to say. It’s a second before he responds, and he responds a second before he can gather his thoughts.

“Shit, Finn,” he mumbles, “I am so sorry.”

“But,” Finn continues, lying flat in bed and not looking at him any longer, “it’s weird, right? That was the moment I knew I couldn't stay in the First Order and...then they captured you…”

“Then you saved me.”

“If it hadn't been for you Slip would have been alive, but I wouldn't have ended up here.”

Poe scoffs, “Wounded in the med bay?”

“No,” Finn says, “with you and Rey.”

He shuts his eyes, Poe shuts his mouth. Finn keeps talking. “I wouldn't have even met Rey. None of this would have happened.” And by this, Poe knows he means everything-- the Resistance’s victory, Kylo Ren’s defeat, their subsequent friendship. And all because Poe had fired the shot on Jakku that had lost Finn his friend.

It’s a lot to take in.

There's something Poe has to know, though. “So...you're not mad at me? For what I did?”

Finn shakes his head soberly. “I thought I would be, but then I thought about how different and much worse things would have been if it hadn't happened, so I guess...I guess it had to?” Finn opens one eye and makes a small smile at Poe. “Must be the Force.”

“Must be. Maybe when Rey brings Luke Skywalker back, he can explain it for us-- if that kind of thing can even be explained.” He leans in closer to Finn. “I'm still sorry about your friend.”

Finn sighs. “So’m I. But you know us Stormtroopers; we’re raised to die and we know it.”

Poe impulsively puts his hand over Finn’s. “Then it's a good thing you're not a Stormtrooper anymore.”

He nearly regrets it, thinking Finn will pull his hand away, but instead Finn shifts his palm up so they can lace their fingers together.

Finn makes sure to fall asleep just then, his hand wrapped in Poe’s, just so Poe can't get away.

 

* * *

 

 

It takes a while, but finally, while out flying a mission in the Outer Rim, Poe gets the call he's been waiting for from a particularly excited Rey.

"I know you'll be home soon, but I didn't want you to miss this--" the small hologram switches viewpoints to a wider angle, so Poe can see Finn sitting at the edge of his bed. Rey holds his wrists firmly, helping him to stand.

"See that?" Finn says with a huge grin. "I'm standing, Poe! I'm almost there!"

"Hey, that's fantastic," Poe says with a chuckle. "This is great to see, pal, I'm so glad you're almost out of bed."

"Hurry up and get back here already!" Finn says. Rey nods in agreement.

"You don't get to talk," Poe points an accusing finger at him, "we waited in agony for you to wake up for days!"

Finn laughs. "Fair enough."

It feels like Finn is re-learning how to walk in more ways than one, given the endless opportunities for him to discover who he was and what he could do; not as some faceless soldier in a brutal war, but as an actual person. But some Trooper training still lingers in his behavior, and that proves to not be bad thing. For one, he tackles therapy with sharp focus and determination and an effective, methodical approach, but with an enthusiasm all his own. Soon he's able to get around with crutches, though when Poe and Rey are with him, he tends to ditch the crutches and lean on his new friends instead.

Rey doesn't mind. Poe seems to enjoy it, even. In less than a month it becomes a normal sight on base-- Finn, Rey and Poe clunking about together like some weird three-headed, six-legged creature. It gets even more fun when Finn discovers he can sing, Rey discovers she can sing well, and Poe, whose own voice is valued as an unexpected talent, eagerly leads them in completely random harmonizations at the drop of a hat.

"What, are you forming a band now, Dameron?" Jessika demands as their vocalization distracts her from cleaning out her cockpit.

"You love it, Jess."

"I loved it the first time. Now it's getting annoying."

"Don't mind her," Snap pops up from behind the wing of his spacecraft. "You guys are absolute angels."

"By the way, Rey," Jess says, tossing her helmet into the cockpit. "I got nothing better to do for the rest of the day, so I thought we might start you on training simulation fifteen."

Rey beams. "Sure!" She glances at Finn. "Do you mind if I--?"

He shakes his head. "It's okay, I got therapy in fifteen minutes anyway."

"Yeah, go ahead Rey," Poe adds, letting her shift her share of Finn's weight onto him, "I've got this."

"Thanks. See you later." She joins Jessika with a literal spring in her step, and the two girls walk off together, their hair bouncing in the wind.

Poe's arm is strong and gentle under Finn's shoulders. "Let's get you to the med bay, yeah?"

 

* * *

 

  
Finn's second shot at life has come with a cat-bag of feelings that he doesn't always have proper words for. He's surprised you could even have emotions beyond 'happy,' 'sad', 'scared', 'jealous,' 'excited,' or 'angry.' There's gratitude, which is alien at first but instantly recognizable, especially when Rey and Poe help him get around. There's also this weird, nameless feeling of being safe between their arms (although he feels it a lot more right now, when he moves closer to Poe's chest; why that is, he has no fucking clue.) He hasn't got the words for it, so he just quantifies it as 'good.'

Then there's a low-key kind of sad that he gets, when he remembers that Rey only has a limited time on base before she has to leave. Finn doesn't say anything about it. That's another feeling that tends to come creeping in: the fear that he's somehow holding his friends back or depending on them too much.

 _Next time,_ he thinks, _next time, when I'm better, I'll help them, I'll protect them too._ He doesn't know it, but the word for this feeling might just be 'hope.'

Poe sits patiently throughout Finn's therapy session, waiting outside without a single word. Although as time passes Finn does begin to hear him talking to people passing by-- which is weird, because how are there suddenly so many people coming into the med bay?

"What's everyone doing in here?" He hears Poe ask.

"Just trying to get indoors before it rains," a woman's voice replies. "Infirmary was the closest building to me and my squadron so we headed here."

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," a med droid says graciously, "but keep your voices down! We do not want to disturb the patients."

Finn's doctor finishes the session with him and helps him back out, with a new pair of crutches ("since I hear you keep leaving them around the base," he adds sternly.) Instantly Poe is at his side.

"Okay, buddy?"

"Just fine." He notices that the skies have turned grey and the wardens are pulling the windows shut. "It's gonna rain? But today was such a nice day," Finn says. "This is sudden."

"Welcome to D'Qar, baby," Poe quips as the first drops start to patter across the grounds, scattering the people still outside. Some cursing, everyone makes a mad dash for shelter before the rain gets heavier.

The doors to the med bay open once again, allowing a few more stragglers inside. Finn instantly recognizes the woman with the long dark braid.

"Kriffing D'Qar weather! Crazy as a sun-struck Bantha!" Jessika Pava bellows. "I swear, I'm gonna ask the General this time if we can't relocate to motherfucking Kashyyk or something!"

"Language!" Admonishes another warden.

"Jessika!" Poe exclaims. "Where's Rey? Weren't you guys together like an hour ago?"

Her face falls as she looks around. "Uh...I swear she was just behind me--"

Finn sees her outside, a single dark figure standing in the central plaza, face and palms turned up to the downpour that descends in sheets.

He pushes through the crowd, barely hearing Poe's shout of "Where are you going?" and manages to slip out the door, crutches and all, just before it shuts. He's unprepared for the sheer force of nature he finds himself in, the rain coming down steady and hard and the air so cold he finds it hard to breathe. In the rain, Finn feels laid bare, flayed raw, completely vulnerable, but when he hobbles his way to Rey and she turns round to face him, her smile is so bright it could replace the sun.

"This is incredible!" She says over and over again. "I mean, sometimes it rains on Jakku, but not like this!" Finn's about to ask if she wants to go indoors when he gets a real good look at her face.

"Are you crying?"

Rey sniffs, but she still smiles. "Um, am I? I can't tell anymore!"

"You're crying!" Finn says, raising his voice over the downpour. "But aren't you happy? I don't get it!"

"Oh, Finn!" Rey laughs this time, shaking her head. "Yes, I am. I'm literally that happy."

Finn still doesn't get it, but somehow he feels like he doesn't have to. And now this time, it's Rey who grabs his hand, twirling around him like she's the moon to his planet, and Finn is laughing so hard he wishes he could just drop the crutches and dance with her.

There are no words he knows for this kind of good feeling, of feeling good for another person, but a pretty close approximation is simply _wow_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daisy Ridley can sing, John Boyega can sing, Oscar Isaac can fucking sing. I just had to write a little acapella harmonizing into this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter-- tons of dialogue, fluff and Force-talk. Also, things get gayer.

Finn's intel proves to be valuable to the Resistance's next moves. Having pointed out key locations where the First Order had military footholds, as well as providing some information on what defenses might be surrounding them, he helps General Organa prioritize their strikes. With his new best buddy on the Resistance's strategic board, Poe's even more eager to fly out, encouraged by how much of Finn's insight actually _works_.

He's pleased that the former Stormtrooper now feels useful doing something he actually wants to do. And here on the other hand was Rey, fluttering around base doing whatever she can to help, the same way she used to do odd jobs and pick for scraps as a kid. But sometimes Poe catches a look in her eyes that seem to search beyond D'Qar, half-anticipating to leave, half-reluctant to do so.

No matter how good she's gotten on the flight sims, Poe can't tell her that the cockpit of an X-Wing fighter isn't the place for her. She's meant to be a Jedi, not a soldier, and he sees it in her eyes and he thinks she knows. He knows it more than ever when she asks him about his missions, about far-flung planets and what kind of horrors the First Order commits in the name of galactic unity.

"I'm not a child," she says when Poe hesitates for the millionth time. "I need to know this, Poe. This is my fight too." She's trying to keep her voice down; they're in the base's archive center, where records and data are kept. One thing Finn's discovered about himself is that he actually likes to read, and the history of the Resistance is a compelling topic for him. Poe enjoys accompanying him over and adding insight to his research (although to be honest, Poe enjoys accompanying Finn just about anywhere) and they drag Rey along to help her practice reading. She gets restless quickly, and it's showing now.

"She's right, buddy," Finn says, eyes scanning a row of shelves, "you better tell her. She's gonna be a Jedi, she has to know this stuff." He moves to the left, nearly tripping over BB-8, who enjoys getting underfoot when it can sense an interesting conversation about to happen.

"Thank you!" Rey says.

"Or," Finn continues, turning to face them as best he can on his crutches, "is it just as simple as 'daddy doesn't like talking about work'?"

That irritates Poe. "For the last time, I am not anyone's dad." BB-8 makes a noise that sounds like wicked giggling. "Oh, quiet, you." Poe leans against a wall. "If it's Kylo Ren you're after, I can't help you. He's been a no-show since we blew up his little toy. All we get are his dumb grunts-- no offense, Finn."

"None taken," Finn says breezily, returning to examine the books on a shelf.

"I never said I was after Kylo Ren," says Rey, Poe notices she says it a little too quickly. He gives her a wry smile.

"Come on, Rey. I command like two squadrons of pilots; I know when an objective gets personal."

BB-8 makes a series of beeps. Rey bursts out laughing; Poe looks offended.

"What did it say?" Finn asks.

"It said 'Daddy always knows,'" Rey giggles.

"I swear that droid wasn't this bad until you guys started influencing it against me." Poe groans, but he gets them back to the point. "Anyway, Rey, I've been there myself so I don't blame you. Besides...that guy's a jerk." He's never told anyone how much it kills him to see General Organa, one of the strongest women he's ever known (right up there on the shelf with his mother and now recently, Rey) suffer the blows and losses that have directly been her own son's fault.

"Bro, you're telling me?" Finn says. "I worked for the guy. We lived in constant fear of being Force-choked or Force-tortured by him or some shit."

"I've tried it," Poe says, voice hard, "it ain't fun. Ain't fun at all."

Rey stares. "Is that what he did when the First Order captured you? You didn't tell me--"

Poe sighs. "It's not a nice thing to come back to."

"Yeah," Finn adds, "you didn't look so great when I busted you out."

"What'd he do?" Rey persists.

"Ah, Rey--" This is exactly the type of thing he's been avoiding.

"He got into your head, didn't he?" She says. "First he makes sure you can't move and then before you know it something tries to push its way into your mind and it's...it's cold?" She tries to recall the feeling, but then all she remembers her own mental strength pushing against Ren's and finally kicking him out, regaining control of her mind.

Poe leans his back completely against the wall. "He did it to you."

"He tried."

"But you resisted, 'cause the Force," Poe says. "I couldn't, I wasn't strong enough. He broke right in there and cut through my memories like butter until he got what he wanted." He shakes his head. "It was more than cold. It was fucking brutal. I couldn't stop him seeing that I gave the map to BB-8. That was the one thing that screwed up the entire mission."

Finn puts a hand on Poe's shoulder. "Buddy, it's okay."

Poe keeps talking. "Just flicked through my head like I was an open book. Couldn't even hide anything from him. He even cut through the stuff that he didn't need. I mean, can I live without anybody finding out the cutesy nickname my dad wouldn't stop calling me till I turned fifteen?!"

"Does the General know about this?" asks Finn worriedly.

Poe shuts his eyes, "Yes, she does. I had to tell her. You know, she sent him away after...after he killed Skywalker's students. Of course she did that. I guess Ren's not over it." He opens his eyes again, "He saw how much she trusted me when he got into my head. Maybe he did try to fuck me up just to get back at her. Or maybe torturing people is really just his evil cup of tea." One thing that keeps Poe up at night is that if he'd died too, or so much as been hurt beyond recovery, Leia would be absolutely kriffing broken. He could never do that to her.

Finn growls, "he's a monster."

Something twists in Rey's gut. "He killed his own father, too. How could he do that? How could he do any of this?" For the first time, she wishes she could meet him in battle again, only this time she'd make him hurt. Make him suffer.

Poe shakes his head, "I don't see how the General would believe there's still some light in him after that."

Rey falls silent. Finn glances at her.

"Rey?"

"I'm fine," she says quietly. "I just...I think I know what I have to do now."

 

* * *

 

"I'm ready to leave," is the first thing Rey tells the General.

Leia smiles, and Rey reads a mixture of pride, pleasure and relief. "That's good to hear."

Rey nods, "Yeah...um, Finn is getting better, and I thought it'd be best to start my training as soon as possible."

"Oh? And what happened that made you so excited all of a sudden?" Leia scrutinizes Rey. "No...but I don't feel excitement exactly. More like apprehension. Tension. Is something the matter?"

Rey stares. How does she know?

Leia smiles smugly. "The Force is strong in my family. You have that power too. I've specifically chosen to develop the skill of empathy and extra-sensory perception because it benefits my line of work. When you meet my brother, you will choose a part of the Force to specialize in as well." She looks at Rey more gently now. "So, what's up with the bee in your bonnet?"

Rey tries to choose her words carefully. "Kylo Ren...killed Han in front of us. He almost killed Finn. I just found out he tortured Poe and would've killed him, too." She forces herself to meet Leia's eyes. "It doesn't help that Poe refuses to tell me what the Resistance is fighting against, the First Order is literally that bad. I know he's your son, but he's horrible and we have to stop him. Before he gets any worse." Rey swallows, "So I need to find your brother as soon as I can. Maybe he can end this and teach me to use the Force, because I'm not letting what happened to my friends happen to them again. Or anyone else. He's got to pay for what he did." That last sentence comes out a little stronger than she'd like.

Leia sighs."I thought you might experience this sooner or later." She folds her hands. "You know, the old Jedi order maintained that its members remained detached from emotion, free of relationships that might impair their judgment." Rey's heart is sinking, and she's thinking maybe Leia's going to say something like _better not sing a capella with the boys anymore._ But she doesn't.

"Personally, I think that's a load of Sarlacc crap." Rey looks up, surprised at the General's choice of words. "Who the kriff would want to live like that? Who the kriff thinks they can help not loving someone?" She looks at the younger woman. "You want to protect the people closest to you, I understand that. It's the among purest and noblest of motivations, Rey." Leia pauses. "Well, at first. I'm aware my father tried to pull it off and he just made things worse."

Rey's thrown for a second. "Huh?"

The General brushes it off with a wave of her hand. "A story for another time...maybe ask Luke to tell you." Her tone becomes more matter-of-fact. "Anyway, you want to protect your friends, go right ahead. But if the only reason you're ever going to fight is because you know Ren hurt them, you'll lose your way. And that's not something that's easy to live with. If you seek revenge without justice, give in to passion without any compassion, then you will lack balance, and the Force will remain imbalanced too."

Rey's sitting there, soaking up Leia's words. She's never had a talk like this before. Maz Kanada may have told her about the Force and its presence in her, but she'd never mentioned the baggage and responsibility it came with.

Leia peers at her. "Sometimes it is hard to make the right choices. But you cannot let yourself be blinded by the wrong emotions. If you do, you'll lose control; what you feel will twist how you think, and you'll fall into the dark side's trap. That's where the Sith get their power-- from anger and hatred."

There's a second's silence before Rey realizes, "But I don't hate anyone. I'm just--"

"Scared?" Leia finishes.

"I don't want to lose any of my friends," the girl replies, her voice unexpectedly breaking.

"And that's entirely normal too, but you can't let that fear control you or let your emotions solely decide your actions." Leia reaches over and takes both of Rey's hands in hers. "Want a good reason to fight against the Sith? Let that reason be because you seek peace in the Galaxy, not vengeance for yourself or freedom from your own fear. You're a good, pure person, Rey, and you've proved you can show mercy and kindness even to those who have wronged you, or those you barely know." She smiles. "And you're brave, too. You are everything the dark side is not. So, don't let 'em get to you. And for kriff's sake, _don't_ give 'em what they want."

No one, no one, has ever praised Rey in this profound way. She's not prepared for the tears that form in her eyes. "Thank you, General. I understand now."

Leia can see Rey relax a little bit more now, the set of her shoulders less tense. "Please, why don't you come with me? You said yourself, that was your plan...and Luke is your brother."

Leia shakes her head, "Rey, the thing I was afraid of was showing up at whatever miserable hole my brother's been hiding in and giving him a hard time for abandoning his family. I mean, I would love to do it, and it's not like he doesn't have it coming, but that won't solve anything and it certainly won't be good for him or for me. But you've turned up and you seek answers, and you really do need a teacher, so..." She sighs. "No, this is your task, Rey. When you find him, you'll bring him hope. You'll show him there's still a chance left for the Jedi. Because as much as you need a teacher..."

"He needs a student," Rey finishes, and it feels as if the universe has opened up in front of her, a vast legacy she's always meant to be part of that stretches far beyond who she used to be and those she's come to love.

"It's your destiny. I can feel it. Do you?"

Rey does. There is a sense of things sliding into their right place, a deep tug in her bones that pulls her toward distant stars and an endless, rolling sea she's only ever seen in her dreams.

She nods, and her future is set.

 

* * *

 

 

"I can't believe it's your last night on base."

Rey gives Finn a smile from the floor where's she's packing a bag-- not a big one, just enough for her few belongings. She's bringing the datapad, of course, and a communicator in case she can send transmissions from wherever Luke Skywalker has been hiding, and her staff...and the lightsaber, which she hasn't touched since she fought Kylo Ren. It's not hers, after all, and it doesn't feel right for her to hold onto it, but she does feel right bringing it to its true owner.

"I know. It went by so fast. And look at how well you've gotten," she adds, "another couple of weeks and you won't need the crutches, right?"

Finn grins, "Yeah, but it won't be the same hanging on to you guys for support."

"You've still got Poe. You can throw your weight on him anytime you want." She laughs, "I'm sure he won't mind."

Something in Finn's smile changes; it becomes smaller, softer, a different kind of happy. "Yeah, I've still got Poe."

Rey raises her eyebrows. "You know, I see the way you look at him."

"The way I-- what do you mean?" When Rey giggles, Finn looks confused. "How do I look at him?"

"Oh, you just do."

Finn shakes his head, "I don't know where you get your delusions."

Rey lets it go when she hears a knock on her door. It's Poe, and Rey grins to herself, knowing she's right when that look spreads across Finn's face again.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Poe replies. He crosses his arms, leaning against the door frame, and in the late afternoon sunlight the look on Finn's face could never be more obvious. "Last day on base, right, Rey? I'm flying out in a couple of days too."

"So you're leaving me here?" pouts Finn.

"Ah, you'll have Admiral Ackbar to entertain you," Poe says with a grin. "Anyway, Rey, Jess says you finished the flight practices."

"Yeah."

Poe can barely keep himself from smiling. "You up for a flight in a real X-Wing now?"

Rey's eyes bulge. "Are you serious?"

 

 

The cockpit and the interior are just like in the flight sims, but when Rey puts the helmet on and starts the engines, she's thrilled by how real it all is. _This is legit,_ she thinks.

"Poe?" She says tentatively through the communicator.

His voice crackles through the earpiece. "Hey, when you're in the cockpit, I'm Black Leader and you're Red Five."

Rey rolls her eyes. "Yes, Black Leader. I thought you were taking a ship up with me."

"Nope. Sky's all yours tonight."

She grins. "Thanks."

"So how's your dashboard status?"

Rey clears her throat professionally. "Black Leader, this is Red Five. All green."

"Now you're getting it. Safe flight and have fun, Black Five." From inside the cockpit, Rey can see Poe at the edge of the landing strip, communicator on his ear and both thumbs up. Next to him, Finn waves, and BB-8 sticks out its little lighter. "Oh yeah," he adds, "and be back in time for dinner!"

"Yes, Dad!" This time, when she flips switches and lifts off, each movement is natural and easy. Poe was right; she did need the practice flights. The stars beckon to Rey, and, excitement bubbling in her chest, she guns the fighter toward them.

Finn follows the X-Wing's movement, watching her go. "Aren't you going to supervise her, Commander?"

Poe shakes his head, "She can handle herself. Although I might have to come up there and get her if she doesn't show for dinner." He grins. "Besides. Couldn't leave you here."

He slips his arm around Finn's waist and notices a little too late that they're much too close to each other but somehow Finn doesn't mind; it even surprises Poe when he turns ever so slightly toward him.

"Um--" _(abort abort get out of this awkward situation Dameron)_ "Sorry, is this okay?"

Finn's eyes are darting around everywhere except Poe's face, "Uh, yeah. W-why wouldn't it be?" Below them, BB-8 has gone almost completely still, spherical body only rocking slightly as it looks up at them in anticipation.

"I don't know," Poe says, wondering why his voice has gone soft all of a sudden, "Rey doesn't like being touched like this."

"I'm cool with it." Finn's gaze finally lands on Poe's. "Really, I am."

"Oh, okay." Poe pauses, throwing all caution to the wind. "But, uh, how about this?"

He moves in closer and their lips meet, and for a second it's all light and sparks in Finn's brain before Poe pulls away all too quickly.

He looks at Finn with apprehension, hoping he hasn't gone too far, hoping that he _liked_ it. Finn stares back and realizes he does. He likes kissing, and he likes Poe, and he likes kissing Poe, and he might even love him a little bit.

"Is that what it's like to kiss someone?" he manages.

Poe chuckles self-deprecatingly, "Was it that bad?" BB-8 whistles teasingly and begins to roll in circles around them.

"Well, I liked it."

The pilot exhales in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Finn can't help but smile. His hand seeks out Poe's and they lace fingers just like before. Then they're kissing again and Finn's intoxicated by this overwhelming, new feeling, and he just decides to call this one _bright_.

"Do you think we should tell Rey?" Poe asks suddenly, breaking the kiss.

"Actually," says Finn, remembering their conversation from earlier, "I think she knows."

 

* * *

 

Rey does manage to make it back to base in time for dinner, which in this case happens to be a big party in the mess hall. It's a send-off for her and a celebration of the Resistance's recent victories, particularly that they've managed to locate Luke Skywalker. The food's the usual mess hall fare, but what really makes it a party is that someone's brought drinks, someone else has hooked up a music player to the AP system, and the entire Resistance has turned up to get down. Even Admiral Ackbar. Even the General.

"You like it?" Jessika grins at her first chance she gets.

"Are you kidding?" Rey replies, "this is amazing! I've never been to a party before."

She spots Finn and Poe talking with a group of people, and while Poe's holding Finn up like usual, Rey can't help but sense a sort of...glowing? Between them. She's not sure what it is at first, but then she associates the way Finn looks at Poe with the feeling and it clicks. When Finn meets her eyes she shoots him a knowing smile.

It makes him blush.

"Oh my gosh," exclaims Jessika suddenly, as an upbeat tune comes in over the speakers, "I love this song! It's a Max Rebo cover!" She grabs Rey's hand.

"Hey," begins Rey, about to tell her off, but Jess is leading her to the middle of the floor, which is already packed. Her gusto encourages Rey, who begins to move in time to the music, shaking her hips. It makes Jess laugh.

"Oh, yeah!"

Rey laughs, too. She realizes she likes this, this is fun. There's a swarm of people around her, all heartbeats and high emotions, and their euphoria floods through Rey's senses as the night goes on, igniting her. At first she can pick out individual auras-- Poe's, as he makes his way to her and they dance together, Finn's, from where he's sitting with a bunch of pilots next to the drinks, Chewbacca's, who's sort of just turned up and is cutting a rug much to everyone's delight-- and then they all sort of just blur together until Rey's not sure what are heartbeats and what are bass notes.

It's getting to be a lot-- too much. By the time the night starts to slow down, she decides to leave the floor, stumbling off and swallowing, trying to get steady, but she likes it, the vibrant feeling of hope and life--

"Whoa, whoa, okay!" Poe's saying, suddenly at her side, grabbing her arm to steady her. "Easy there, Rey." He grabs her shoulders, looks into her eyes. "You had anything to drink?"

Rey shakes her head, "No, I'm just-- everybody's so-- and I'm feeling it all, Poe!" Her exuberant hand movements belie both joy and panic.

Someone else approaches. "She's Force-sensing everybody's emotions," says Leia, talking loud so Poe can hear her over the noise. "It's a lot to handle! Sit her down somewhere. Just take deep breaths, Rey, you'll be fine."

Rey swallows again and nods, letting Poe haul her outside. Instantly, out in the cool night air, the sounds from indoors are muffled considerably and her mind feels able to clear a little bit. They're soon met by Finn, who's somehow got glow-in-the-dark rings attached to his crutches.

"Where the hell did you get those?" Poe says incredulously as he and Rey sit down on the floor, their backs to the wall.

Finn chuckles, "People just kept coming up and giving them to me. Neat, aren't they?" He drops the crutches and settles down on Poe's other side. "You okay, Rey? Are you drunk?"

"Force empathy, apparently the most powerful intoxicant in the Galaxy," Poe answers for her, as Rey inhales slowly. "She'll be okay."

"How do I handle it?" Rey asks. "The General makes it seem so easy. One night of fun and I'm soaking up everyone's vibes. The more attuned I get to Force, won't it be harder to filter?"

"You'll get the hang of it!" Finn puts a gentle hand on her wrist. "For now, just stay present. Focus on one thing."

"Uhh..."

"Yeah, look at this, Rey," Poe says, like a parent distracting a child away from danger. "You too, Finn. I wanna show you guys something."

He points up at the night sky. "That's the Yavin system." His finger trails a line down a cluster of stars, "and there's Yavin IV! That's where I grew up. Can you see it?"

"I think so." Finn squints. "Do you think anybody's up there looking at us and going 'there's D'Qar'?"

Poe chuckles, "My dad, probably."

"It's beautiful," Rey says softly, and again Poe can hear the longing and wistfulness in her voice. "There are so many stars out there. I wish I knew which one I came from."

Finn and Poe glance at each other, then they look at Rey. She's balled herself up, hugging her knees to her chest now.

"When I was on Jakku, all I could think of was the day my family would come back for me. I always thought the most important thing was that they'd find me again." Rey keeps looking at the sky. "But maybe what I was really supposed to do was try to find them myself."

"Rey." Poe reaches out and touches her shoulder gently. "You kind of already did."

He's hoping his words aren't too forward, too assuming. He's hoping he's not wrong, but Poe wants nothing more than to be there for her, for Rey to know that no matter what, the three of them would always be pulled together as if by orbit.

Rey look back at him, a spark lighting up her eyes, and she doesn't say anything, but she slides back and envelops both of them in a warm, wordless hug that still manages to say so much. Poe wraps an arm around her abdomen snugly and pulls her close. "Damn right." He does the same with his other arm to Finn so they've both got their heads against his chest.

Rey snuggles against them. "I wish you could come with me."

Finn shakes his head with a laugh, "Oh, come on. Limited mobility aside, I'm just gonna get in the way and ask too many questions. Besides," and a note of pride creeps into his voice, "I can genuinely say the Resistance needs me here."

"By Resistance, do you just mean their best pilot?" Rey says with a mischievous grin.

There's a twinkle in Finn's eye. "Damn, Rey, you are good."

"What," Poe hugs Finn closer to him, displaying their affection like a flag. "Is it that obvious?"

"It is to me!" Rey starts laughing, and the boys laugh with her too.

"This is good," she says. "I'm happy for you." From inside, a slower song starts to play.

"You guys want anything to drink?" Finn says, though his eyes are almost half-shut.

"Rey can't have any," Poe says, "she's leaving tomorrow. Can't have her flying under the influence."

"Thanks, Dad," mumbles Rey, swatting his leg playfully.

Now Finn's eyes are completely closed. "Hey...this is one good song."

"Yeah," Poe agrees, "it is." He's sure people are finishing their drinks by now, maybe some making-out (cross-species, same-gender, probably instigated by Jess) is going on, but he's not curious enough to check it out. In fact, he's good right here.

He's singing the lyrics to the song softly as it ends, one hand curled around one of Finn's, another tousling Rey's hair, as the two of them start to drift off into sleep on either of his shoulders.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue will be up soon


	4. Epilogue

D'Qar is entirely different from Jakku, but there's one thing they have in common for Rey: they've both become her home. And she's had to leave both planets behind for greater things.

Although while flying off Jakku was a matter of life and death, departing D'Qar carries more weight and responsibility, and it's much harder for her now that she has to say goodbye to her friends.

The Millenium Falcon's been all spruced up for the trip, and beaming next to it is Chewie, eager to be back in the cockpit again. He ruffles Rey's hair playfully and growls softly.

"Yes, Chewie, I'm ready," she replies.

He growls again: _Here come your friends. Go and say goodbye._

A group led by Finn and Poe are making their way to her, accompanied by General Organa. As the General says her own goodbyes to the Wookiee, Rey gets passed around both Red and Blue squadrons, hugging everyone tight.

"Come back, okay?" Snap says, as Rey gets a particularly huge tackling hug from Jess.

"I will," Rey says with a grin, "and when I do, I'll be able to Force-lift as many grapes as you want me to. Watermelons, too!" Her joke makes the pilots burst into laughter. BB-8 knocks against her legs, beeping _don't forget about me!_

Rey chuckles. "Of course not!" She squats down to hug it too. "Goodbye, BB-8. Look after the boys, okay? Make sure they stay together." Rey looks it in the photoreceptors seriously. " _Always_."

BB-8 whistles in affirmation. Then the crowd disperses and the only people left to hug are Finn and Poe.

She can't stop the lump forming in her throat. "Guys--"

"We have something for you," says Finn abruptly, and on cue Poe produces something from where he's been hiding it behind his back. It's the jacket, their jacket, the tear in the back now repaired with a thick seam.

"Oh my goodness," Rey says softly. She reaches out to touch the worn leather, "No, Finn, I couldn't. This belongs to you."

"It was Poe's before it was mine," Finn corrects, "and now, it's yours. We both want you to have it."

"But--"

"Come on-- we don't want our favorite desert girl to get too cold in space," he coaxes. Poe puts it gently over Rey's shoulders, and she laughs softly as she slips her arms through the sleeves. It hangs over her slender frame, a little too big, but it feels like a hug and it feels like home.

Poe looks her up and down appraisingly. "It suits you, too."

She tugs the lapels over her abdomen snugly. "I don't know what to say. Thank you."

When they move in to embrace her it knocks all the breath from her lungs and Finn's crutches are somewhat making it awkward but she wraps her arms around them both and tries to hold on for as long as she can.

"Rey--" Finn manages, voice slightly muffled against her hair, "we'll miss you."

"Take care," Poe says.

"You, too," she replies, burying her face in Finn's shoulder. "You two take care of each other." Rey swallows. "I love you."

Poe laughs to stop himself from nearly crying because she's taken the words right out of his own head. He pulls both of them closer for a second before they have to let go.

Rey disentangles herself from them. Leia approaches her, gives her her own hug. It's a gentle goodbye, and overwhelming for Rey, who has had so little tenderness in her life.

"My husband would be proud of you," the older woman says softly before letting Rey go.

"Thank you," Rey mumbles. "I'll come back. And I'll bring your brother with me."

She takes a step away, and then another step, then another till she's standing next to Chewbacca.

"We'll see each other again," she says to her friends, to her family. "I promise."

Leia nods. "May the Force be with you."

Finn sees her face light up in a smile, then she waves, then she and Chewie climb into the Falcon. Everyone takes a step back as the ship lifts off.

Rey takes one last look at D'Qar from the pilot's seat. She glances at Chewie, and he nods.

She's ready. They both are.

She sets the coordinates from the map Leia has completed, the map that Poe and BB-8 risked their lives to get, the map that Finn brought to the Resistance, and makes a leap of faith into hyperspace.

 

* * *

On ground level, the Resistance watches the Falcon disappear into the bright morning sky. Just for a moment. Then things go back to normal really quickly.

"All right, everyone," says the General at once, "we've wasted enough time already. Back to work, people! There's still a war to fight!"

"You heard her, troops," Poe follows. "Black Squadron, briefing room in twenty minutes. I'll see you there!"

Finn watches him proudly, leaning on his crutches. "Nice, Commander. What about me?"

Poe's about to answer when Leia calls him over. "Finn, Ackbar needs you for our next tactical discussion, meet us at headquarters."

"Be right there!" Finn calls back. Poe comes over and presses a quick, fleeting kiss to his chin.

"Go do your thing," he says. "See you for dinner?"

Finn beams. "Of course."

He watches Poe go off, followed by BB-8, before turning around with a wide smile forming across his face. Rey's out of his hands now, but life would go on. And the General was right, they still had a war to fight.

Only this time, Finn's on a side he's actually chosen.

_All right,_ he thinks eagerly, _let's see what happens next._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing this fic, I compiled a playlist that has nothing to do with the story but reminded me, on different levels, of the general JediStormPilot OT3/friendship/trio thing. Here it is, from me to you: [ the bright center to the universe](https://open.spotify.com/user/onyourleft084/playlist/1F6qqIh7Ih5is5nMTbxOmZ)


End file.
